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Weeds - dispose or use?

If clients don't mind, we leave weeds onsite to let them to rot down as compost, smother existing weeds, and to save labour and costs in removing them. Anything we can do to improve the soil’s structure and microbe population is a win.

Woolsacks full of weeds for green waste at the tip.

Here's how
Here’s how you can reuse organic matter (anything that once grew) and save yourself effort and money.
Learn to identify the pest, or invasive plants, (ideally when they are small) versus the less nasty weeds that will curl up and die without a fight.
It’s fine to leave the less nasty weeds on top of garden beds or around plants to rot down to improve the soil, which helps hold water and nutrients on your land.

A different approach is needed for the baddies, those that reproduce like crazy using a variety of cunning tricks. For these, you can:

Dig or pull them out or rake up (eg tradescantia) and pile in a corner or in a contained compost area. You can cover them with black polythene to speed decomposition and reduce chances of regrowth. If they do regrow, you can spray herbicide on regrowth or manage the edges of the pile while the bulk rots down. You can use on garden once they are definitely dead.
Put them in a waterproof container, add water (or wait for rain) and put the lid on. Once they’ve rotted down, you can water the garden with the resulting soup. There’s no guarantee on nutrient value, but there’s nothing to lose.
Bag them up and take to green waste

To avoid spreading the types of pest plants you have, have separate piles in each garden area, eg front and back.

More info
To identify pest plants see Weedbusters.
Pests in Wellington region and more general info see, Greater Wellington Regional Council Pest Plants.

Ivy is one of the most common pest plants we come across. It grows up trees and shrubs and smothers them. Birds eat the ripe berries and drop the seeds in the bush with a dollop of fertiliser.

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Green mulch crops

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We've been sowing seeds for green manure crops where there are garden beds not being used or areas where customers are deciding what to plant.

Bare soil invites weeds to make themselves at home, and when it rains, valuable soil and water wash away taking nutrients with them.
Benefits of covered soil
There are many reasons to sow a green manure crop. To:

suppress weed growth
reduce rain and wind erosion
improve soil structure; deep rooted crops help break up soil
Put nutrients into the soil; lupins produce nitrogen
attract beneficial insects
some you can eat or feed to the chooks
green growth looks better than bare soil.

Green manure crop seedlings showing oats, lupins, peas.

Green manure seedlings (oats, lupin and peas). These were sown about three weeks ago and are already creating their own micro-environment.

Before cover crops seed
Cut them down or pull them out before they go to seed. Use the stems as mulch or dig it into the soil to rot down and release nutrients for the next crop and improve soil structure.
What to sow
Diversity is the way to go. Each plant has its own benefits, from attracting beneficial insects, to adding specific nutrients to the soil.
Include your cover crop in your vege crop rotation plan. Ie don’t grow plants of the same family after each other.
In winter, we have oats and legumes (nitrogen fixers) such as beans, lupins and various types of peas. There’s also winter-hardy salad crops, such as corn salad and miner’s salad (Claytonia).

Experiment with what works in your area and with your soil. You’ve got a lot to gain and very little to lose.

Self seeding nasturtium covers the weed heap. This living mulch improves the view, is edible and can also lure cabbage butterfly from your brassicas.

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Weeds - dispose or use?

Green mulch crops

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